The present invention is directed to a foldable harvesting header that can be shifted between an operating position and a transport position by pivoting about a predominantly horizontal pivot axis.
Harvesting headers for self-propelled harvesting machines have been getting wider and wider, permitting farmers to harvest fields in shorter time with fewer passes through the field. However, the maximum width of vehicles operated on public roads is limited by law. For that reason the headers are transported as a rule on a trailer, or folded into a transport position, in which its width is reduced compared to its operating position. Folding a harvesting header has the advantage that the removal and reassembly of the header from or to the harvesting machine is eliminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,753 discloses a corn head for a forage harvester in which the outer parts of the header can be folded upward about horizontal axes extending in the direction of operation, and are laid over the central part of the corn harvesting implement. This concept can be found relatively often.
DE 199 33 779 C discloses a harvesting header be divided at its center and the outer ends of the halves be folded inward and upward about horizontal axes extending in the direction of operation.
DE 38 28 293 C discloses a harvesting header in which the outer parts are pivoted into a position about an axis extending inclined upward and outward in which they come to lie ahead of and above the center part. In another embodiment the outer parts are positioned by a two-legged pivoting mechanism above the center part.
Furthermore, EP 0 131 853 B describes a corn head in which the intake points without the stripper devices are folded upward about a horizontal axis extending transverse to the direction of operation. The outer parts are pivoted upward about axes extending transverse to the direction of operation, as is described in DE 41 31 491 A.
In the harvesting headers described above, the disadvantage is that the center of gravity during transport is located relatively far forward. Except for the corn head described in EP 0 131 853 B in which the intake points of the plucking devices that have been folded upward that relocate the center of gravity when folded only slightly to the rear, the position of the center of gravity is not changed by the folding of the crop processing arrangement of the harvesting headers. For this reason detrimental high loads develop during transport on public roads that are applied to the front wheels of the harvesting machine carrying the harvesting header.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved foldable harvesting header.
The harvesting header is provided with at least one crop processing arrangement that can be pivoted between an operating position and a transport position about a predominantly horizontal pivot axis. The pivot axis extends transverse to the direction of operation. In the operating position the crop processing arrangement of the harvesting header is arranged in its known position above the field to be harvested and extending forwardly from the self-propelled harvesting machine. In the transport position the crop processing arrangement is pivoted upward and to the rear, opposite to the direction of operation.
As such, the center of gravity of the harvesting header in the transport position moves rearwardly closer to the harvesting machine carrying the harvesting header.
The harvesting header is subdivided into a center portion and one or two side portions arranged alongside the center portion in the operating position relative to the direction of forward operation. These side portions are pivotally coupled to the center portion. The side portions can be pivoted about two forwardly extending pivot axes. The side portion can be pivoted upward to reduce the width of the harvesting header in its transport position. In the transport position the side portions extend either approximately vertically upward so that the operator of the harvesting machine can look between them (or past them) to see the road, or they are laid on top of the center portion that has been folded upward and to the rear, so that the side portions extend parallel to the center portion. It would also be conceivable to bring the side portions into the transport position by a pivot linkage of the type disclosed in DE 38 28 293 C. That is the side portions could be pivoted about an axis extending at an angle outward and upward into a position in which it is located above the center portion, or could be pivoted by a two-legged pivoting mechanism above the center portion. Furthermore it would be possible that the side portions are not pivoted upward and rearward with the center portion, but remain in their operating positions until the center portion has been pivoted upward and rearwardly and then the side portions are slid beneath the center portion.
Many types of harvesting headers are equipped with transverse augers or other transverse conveyors, for example, conveyor bands or roll conveyors that are arranged downstream of the crop processing arrangement at the rear of the harvesting header. As a rule these transverse conveyors are not pivoted with crop processing arrangements about a pivot axis into a transport position, but remain stationary. They may be fastened rigidly to the rear frame, which has the advantage that the pivoting drive must move smaller masses and therefore can be dimensioned to a smaller size. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pivot axis coincides with the axis of rotation of the transverse auger.